70-Year-Old Woman Killed, 7 Others, Including A Girl, Injured In Stampede During Temple Inauguration Event
A video of the incident going viral showed the women who gathered at the entrance of the Dabra stadium to participate in the ‘Kalash Yatra’, literally gatecrashed to enter the venue to collect their pots from the organizers, leading to the stampede-like situation.
Bhopal: A 70-year-old woman was on Tuesday killed and seven others injured in a stampede-like situation, triggered by the rush of female devotees to collect ‘kalash’ (sacred steel pots), distributed by the organizers of temple inauguration event at Dabra in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district.
The pots were distributed to them to facilitate their participation in the ‘Kalash Yatra’, held on the occasion of the consecration of the Navagraha temple in Dabra.
A video of the incident going viral showed the women who gathered at the entrance of the Dabra stadium to participate in the ‘Kalash Yatra’, literally gatecrashed to enter the venue to collect their pots from the organizers, leading to the stampede-like situation.
“In the rush, a 70-year-old woman was crushed and later succumbed to her injuries”, Gwalior district collector Ruchika Chauhan said.
Seven persons- six women and a girl- were injured in the incident, the district collector said.
While three of them were admitted to a government hospital in Dabra, four others were referred to a hospital in Gwalior.
The video showed the women pushing each other to surge ahead to collect the pot, following which some women including the deceased fell on the ground.
Broken bangles and torn clothes lay scattered around the mishap site, bearing testimony to the tragic incident.
Two policemen were seen in the video trying to control the crowd.
The collector visited the injured in the hospitals.
Incidentally, around 1,000 security personnel were deployed in the area to maintain law and order on the occasion.
Gwalior range deputy inspector general of police Amit Sanghi said that a probe has begun to find out the reason for the incident.
The Navagraha temple, unveiled in Dabra, is said to be the first of its kind shrine since the Navgraphs along with their wives have been installed in it.
Built in an area of 12 acre, the Navagraha temple in Dabra is said to be the largest such shrine in Asia.
The temple has been built under the patronage of senior BJP leader and former minister Narottam Mishra.